"If he spoke better English, he would be the guy that everybody gravitates toward," Mr. Miranda said of the young slugger.

While Mr. Viciedo is naturally embracing his role as a key piece of the White Sox lineup this year — he's been accustomed to on-field attention since he was a rising teenage star in the Cuban National Series league — adjusting to full-time life in the Windy City with a daunting language barrier is a different story.

When he was 19, Mr. Viciedo's family defected from Cuba on a boat bound for Miami.

Within six months of his arrival, he signed a four-year, $10 million contract with the White Sox and spent the next two seasons bouncing around the minors, but he "never developed the language skills" as many young foreign players do before reaching the big leagues, Mr. Miranda said.

Mr. Viciedo's English is "not conversational yet," said Mr. Miranda, who joined the club in early 2011 to help make its Latino players feel more comfortable. He also serves as a translator and "cultural bridge" for Sox stars Alexei Ramirez and Jose Quintana.

So the Sox's translator has played a major role in Mr. Viciedo's acclimation to life in the Midwest, helping with everything from understanding popular TV shows to finding a local pediatrician for his toddler son.

"I'm getting accustomed to the culture and the United States," Mr. Viciedo said through Mr. Miranda.

The young star says his fun-loving character in the clubhouse is the "way I've always been," and he is known to lighten up the locker room following rough games.

"He's always joking around," said Mr. Miranda, who set up Mr. Viciedo with language software Rosetta Stone this year and occasionally brings him along to dinner with his closest friends on the team, Jake Peavy and Adam Dunn.

"They would hang out more if there wasn't a language barrier," he said.

The White Sox left fielder is

close with fellow Cuban teammate

Alexei Ramirez.

That personality could pay dividends for the Sox's marketing efforts once he has a better handle on the language, with the increasingly Latino-heavy demographic shift in Chicago.

The local Latino population jumped nearly 30 percent over the last decade to about 1.8 million residents, according to the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning.

As of 2010, that represented more than 21 percent of the local population, up from 17 percent in 2000. Not a bad stage to shine on, given Mr. Viciedo's background.

"The opportunities are going to come his way to be more of a face in the city, just like (young Cubs star) Starlin (Castro)," Mr. Miranda said. "Two guys that can be faces of the future 'cause they cater toward the youth of Chicago."

As for his given moniker, "Tank," coined by Hawk Harrelson for his size and strength, Mr. Viciedo is happy to play along.

"He's fine with it because people love it," Mr. Miranda said. "He just has fun with it."